Quirks
by Lets Do That Again
Summary: Everyone has quirks; something which sets them apart from everyone else. The various Links pulled from different times and ages are no exception. (Linked Universe One-Shot)


Quirks

**The Legend of Zelda and all related media are property of Nintendo.**

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Everyone has quirks; something which sets them apart from everyone else. The various Links pulled from different times and ages are no exception. Some are mundane; Wild's cooking and Sky's wood-carving. Others useful; Four's ability find the tiniest nooks and crannies, and Twilight's natural strength. And a few are just plain odd; Warrior's stunning ability to pick-up women, and Wind's ability to mimic cats.

Time's claims to individualistic fame are, appropriately enough, related to time. The first is mundane—he has an excellent internal clock. Where the rest of them need a timepiece or the sun to tell the passing of time, the eldest Hero can rattle off precise hours, minutes, even seconds at the drop of a hat; Wild found it immensely useful when he was cooking multiple items. But there was more to his internal clock than any of them thought possible.

They didn't figure it out immediately, though. No, it wasn't until the end of their first month travelling together that discovered his more worrying ability.

It all began rather innocuously. Legend and Four were keeping watch for the night. It was raining, so they all pitched tents and tarps to keep dry. Then, Four was startled by something in the bushes. Legend reacted first, firing an arrow into the brush. Followed quickly by Time, who fired off his own arrow. The others all stumbled out, hands on their blades or bows, just in time to see a scared-to-death hare bolt away.

The Heroes either ribbed or berated their shortest member, before turning in once more. Warriors and Wind decided to take over a bit early, and that was that. Until Wind made a curious comment, at least. "Kinda weird," he said, more to himself than aloud, "that Time went to bed in full armor".

Warriors paid it no mind—he'd done it occasionally as well—but Twilight found it an interesting thought as well. He too thought of Warriors, who wore his pauldron all day, every day, and himself, who sometimes never bothered to take off his chainmail shirt for days at a time. But, unlike Warriors and himself, Time wore full plate armor.

But, the next night, when Twilight saw Time carefully take off and clean his armor before turning in, he let the matter lie.

But then, a couple weeks later, when they were resting in Four's Castle Town, Wild let himself into Twilight and Hyrule's shared room, and told them of a curious sight.

Time, by virtue of being the oldest and having the coldest stare, typically got the only affordable solo room. "The innkeeper was dropping off some water," Wild whispered conspiratorially, "left the door open a crack. There was Time, sitting on his bed, wearing his armor."

Hyrule found it humorous; "I know all about expecting to die at a moment's notice," he said, "but that's just ridiculous!"

But Twilight recalled Wind's comment from before. His two counterparts noticed his silence and asked for his opinion on the matter. He, in turn, asked them to seek out the others and ask if they'd ever noticed Time wearing his armor when turning in for the night. Wild and Hyrule stared back, questions forming on their lips, but Twilight had already left for Warrior's and Four's room.

Twilight eventually returned to the room with Warrior and Four in tow, pleased to see everyone else in his and Hyrule's room; all of them confirming and corroborating tales of Time wearing his armor for at least twenty-four hours.

Wind, as always, was the most enthusiastic about the 'mystery afoot'. He began spouting off theory after theory, the wildest among them being that Time was regularly summoned to another world to fight with otherworldly competitors. Wild tried to indulge him on that one, but Sky brought them back on track.

Legend asked the most obvious question; is Time more tired than usual? The answer to which was 'no'. Nor was he more irritable, or depressed, or anything, really. Which then brought about the second obvious question, this time asked by Four; what did it matter? So, the man liked to wear his armor, what's the big deal? But Sky countered that it was a worrying habit—all men deserve rest, men of their caliber especially. If Time wasn't getting any rest, they were obligated to help.

"But," Twilight softly stated, "we've seen him take off the armor to sleep."

"Actually," Hyrule said, "has anyone ever seen him sleep?"

That set off another round of cacophonous arguing. Yes. No. Of course we have, we just can't remember. He closes his eyes, that means he's asleep, right?

"Enough of this!" Warrior soon shouted, irate. "Why don't we just _ask_ the man?"

But he lost all his bluster when Wild asked, "Do you really want to bother him about this without proof?" But his statement did get the ball rolling. Proof. With proof would come the confidence to interrogate their most stoic member.

Thus, they developed a plan. It would start with Four, asking some Minish to keep an eye on Time, see if he slept at all that night. "He didn't", the little helpers would report come the morning. Next, they all took shifts, marking down how long Time spent awake, never leaving him alone. Which was easy enough when they were travelling during the day, but the night proved a different challenge.

Time, more often than not, offered to take the first watch for the night. And when done, would situate himself at the other end of the camp, facing away from them. The first night, the man did sleep, taking off his armor and did sleep; even snored a bit. Warrior, who absolutely _needed_ his beauty rest, was ready to call the whole thing off. But Sky reminded him that they weren't questioning whether or not the man slept, but how long he pushed himself _until_ he finally rested. Thus, they kept up their investigation until they finally had an answer.

Three days. Seventy-two hours. Without rest.

What was most disconcerting was that the man would _look_ like he slept. Sure, he tended to keep himself upright against a tree, and wore all his armor, but he'd close his eyes and his breathing would slow a touch. However, at the slightest breeze, the tiniest noise, he would open his eyes, already drawing his blade halfway out his sheathe. At first, they'd thought that was just how he slept, light and alert. But when he did sleep, truly sleep, he'd take off his armor, snore and was all but dead to the world. (Though they did shoot down Legend's suggestion of blowing up a Bomb to test how deep his sleep was).

At first, they were astounded. "How can a man stay awake for so long without consequence?" For, truly, the Hero of Time was in the best shape possible. His strikes were always on mark, his aim true, his breathe and stride never faltering.

"Magic?" Legend supplied.

"Training," Wild said.

"Stubbornness," Warriors snidely remarked. But for all their thoughts, they could not come to any true conclusion. At best, they could only assume he trained himself for it. Which just raised further questions.

Thus, with their evidence in hand, they steeled their nerves, and confronted the oldest Hero.

"Why do you go for three days without rest?"

Time, despite their fears, did not grow angry as they presented the fruits of their labor. No, he kept his face neutral, stony, mask of indifference.

And after they'd finished, after they opened the floor for his rebuttal, he was silent. Worryingly so. But before anyone could ask if he was fine (or flee), he looked to Hyrule, and asked, "Why do you insist on holding onto the candles and lanterns when we enter caves or dungeons?" He turned to Sky, "Why do you always rub your sailcloth against your cheek when we come across a roadblock or failure?" To Four, he asked, "Why does your expression and tone of voice change rapidly when under stress?" Of Warriors, he queried, "Why do you always ask for another's opinion before going on the attack?" To Wind, he said, "Why do you insist on shaking hands with every person we part ways with?" He shifted his gaze to Legend, "Why do you always tear up when a seagull cries?" He nodded his head at Twilight, "Why do you stare at the horizon when twilight falls upon the land, and do not avert your gaze until it fades?" Finally, he turned to Wild, "Why do you insist on photographing every location and cataloguing every experience?"

The other eight Links were frozen; their expression ranging from sorrow (Wild) to rage (Legend). Before any could speak, however, Time rose to his feet. He swept his gaze across his captive crowd, "Are any of you willing to answer my questions?" When no one spoke up, he said, "We are the sum of our parts. We can all bear witness to the sum, but the individual parts are still hidden deep beneath the surface. And until you are comfortable enough to reveal _your_ parts, I shall not reveal mine." With that, he walked away.

But before he got too far, Legend, still simmering with rage, called out, "You trying to say you're willing to reveal your darkest secrets?"

The Hero paused, looking over his shoulder. His features—normally sharp, almost aristocratic under the right light—softened considerably. "…I've learned the folly of keeping secrets from those you're meant to trust."

No one had a retort to that.

**A/N: Tried to do something a little different than my normal stuff. Be sure to leave a review. Later.**


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